I'm in the interior... basically in our farm. And I've just seen a woman probably in her 60s simply walk in in this private farm... and look around the house trying to get in and see who's inside. And this is not the first time something like this happens. Plus she's a woman I've never seen in my life before, and it's not like she's a traveler who needs shelter like the old days :XD:...

I know I'm Omani but I just can't grasp the idea that getting into other people's properties is normal. Can someone explain it??... IS this normal??

i think people always have a fascination with big houses (i assume a farm is not going to have a small house) and fascination and curiosity on how their houses are inside.
when i see a nice house, i walk slowly past it and admire its beauty. if i get to see the inside of it, all the better. i don't care about those who live there, and who they are, but i like seeing other people's tastes.
obviosly..this woman trying to break in lol....it's funny i guess.

Maybe she knows your family, you should offer her fingan qahwa (cup of coffee).

it depends where your farm is located and whether it has a fence or not .. in a village where all farms are closly located next to each other and there is no fence around, it would be normal. In a village where farms are seperated from each other, it wont be normal.

Minerva, not all farms have big houses .. traditional farms in the interior have a small old houses :)

^LOL at aged burglar! Actually this seems pretty common out here. Ive had it happen to me on numerous occasions. I dont know why they do it, but for some reason they feel its ok. A lot of ppl out here tend to lack a sense of privacy, the communities are close knit and so they seem to consider everything to be shared, visitors/ strangers are always welcome in their homes so I guess they assume everyone is like that. I wouldnt worry too much about it and I doubt this will be the last time. When it first started happening to me here it drove me nuts, now I just go with the flow. Hey if you cant beat em, join em

It's VERY normal. Everybody does it. I remember once we visited someone's farm and they took us on a 'tour', they took us through so many farms of people we don't know. Sometimes we even see the owners of the farms and they greet us normally asking where we're from.

But one mistake was entering a 'womens' toilet'. I was shocked, very shocked. My aunt pulled me out laughing, while women in the toilet were screaming.

But yeah, no big deal.

Even now we have people walking into our garden, picking fruits. My mother says 'Leave them eat'.

As IceTea said, invite her for coffee, she'll be thrilled and tell you stories.

BTW, does anyone know what goes on in womens' toilets? :hyper:

Heeheeee

^^

No! I don't!

You cruel, cruel woman. Do tell! :p

Either that woman is just curious, has no manners or suffers from alzheimers.

Even now we have people walking into our garden, picking fruits. My mother says 'Leave them eat'.
.

Yeah tell me about it. :bored:


BTW, does anyone know what goes on in womens' toilets? :hyper:

Heeheeee

Not really, tell us tell us :D

^ It's not that, marianna :p Here, it's normal. If TTT went up to her and told her to leave, TTT will be seen as the one without manners.
See how people see it?

You HAVE to accept them roaming around, it's not like they're there to steal, they just want to ... walk. And if it happens that your farm is open, then they'll walk in. If you don't want people, just close the gates.

Hehehe Evana and Jeff, I will only describe how these toilets look like.

They are closed rooms between farms, where women take all the clothes and go wash them together. So they would sit and chat while doing the laundry.

When I entered ...

I can't complete. LOL. I was just 11 and thought it was very weird.

My little brother went in first and came out and his whole world has changed :p


Edit: Ok ... let's just say that on that day ... they decided to wash their own tops too.:yell:

BTW, does anyone know what goes on in womens' toilets? :hyper:

Heeheeee

My sister in law sent me into one of the old traditional ladies bathrooms in the village.... you know the ones without running water, just a falaj running through. So if thats what youre talking about then yup, been there, done that and Im never never going back! :no::omg:

^ LOL yes, those toilets.

Hey some members of my husbands family still think its perfectly normal to open cupboards and doors in my house when they come to visit. They really dont consider it rude, if you wanted you could do the same in their homes and they wouldnt bat en eye! Like I said, the sense of privacy and personal belongings is a lil different. And they're certainly not burglars or theives or mentally ill and lost old people...... theyre just Omani's

^ LOL yes, those toilets.

Oh! Im scarred for life, got to see a whole lot more of the neighbours than ever needed or wanted to!:omg::o

For me I don't mind family going through my kitchen cabinets but draw the line on my dressers and closets. I don't even like friends going through my cabinets. I guess you are right it is about customs because here people would look at someone who goes through personal belongings as crazy and rude and if someone goes through the yard they can be prosecuted for traspassing. Def. different.

it depends where your farm is located and whether it has a fence or not .. in a village where all farms are closly located next to each other and there is no fence around, it would be normal. In a village where farms are seperated from each other, it wont be normal.

)

That is also what I think. It is different in the interior…
Checking inside the house sounds strange to me… too disrespectful to other’s privacy
But walking in others farm is quite normal… not that the people are thoughtless but I think that is how things work over there since the old days, the days of small communities when you would know everybody in the community…

Some of the habits in the interior…

-you can walk into any traditional sugar mill and drink sugar juice (but don’t take it out)
-You can use the falaj to wash or bathe, but don’t take the water
-some people allow others to get in and take from the produce of their farms, we have a farm full of fruit trees in the interior, we usually let children come in and take what they want, they usually come around this time of the year…

So basically it is not a big deal, you could ask the woman not to come again!

I beg your pardon dear members... you're right. my farm's not fenced... IT'S SURROUNDED BY WALLS!!! and has CLOSED GATES. and is definitely NOT located in a village but has a few neighbors. still normal??

I don't feel it's normal even for Omanies. But this is not a woman who walked to the front door and ringed the bell...this is a woman who walked around the house looking into the window to see if anyone's there!!!...

I'd be glad to show around if it was a public farm... but there's definitely a difference between public and private. NOT to mention those who just walk past the gate when it;s not closed and pick the fruits from the trees. it's shocking. I believe in for Omanies this can't be normal. what curiosity does.... it eliminates manners it seems. i wonder what we have the wall for.

Next time it happens i'd walk outside and ask her ... may i help you?

Are you lost?

I have seen this in the interior even with fenced farms. I interrupt them and ask polity if I can help them with anything. They commonly say "no thank you, we don't need anything" and leave. Maybe this woman has nothing better to do in her day!

I know there is this certain "voyerism" people get in looking into other people's personal lives. Maybe she is one of them.

I imagine myself being like her when I am old and have nothing to do but drink Qahwa.

I will break into people's houses... so exciting! :hyper:

Lol^^^^^^^^^^^^^ :)

Do this here .. you'll get out of the property with a bullet in your a$s .. even for a fruit ..

Can I walk into your house, triple alphabet ?

Do this here .. you'll get out of the property with a bullet in your a$s .. even for a fruit ..

The end of time ... :no: ... What is happening to the world!

LOL!!! I'll never know all the many customs Omanis and Arabs have about neighbors and visitors - there's too many and some of them are weird!!
My mom absolutely loves gardening and spends hours every day taking care of the plants and stuff, and a couple of times I've looked out the window and seen this really old woman in full traditional Omani dress and sandals just digging up one of my mom's plants and making off with it, roots and all!!

Now in any other world, that's stealing :os

TripleTee, she is old & she might be demented (impaired cognitive function & memory)

She could also be someone with a psychotic illness, when they are chronic they are commonly seen wandering aimlessly

I really don't see why you're making this a big deal 3T...

Drama queen..lol

did she climb the wall or was the gate open? i assume it's the latter :P
personally, the gate is closed at all times at our farm, except for a certain time in the afternoon, you may call it "visiting hours" lol
unless if it was the 6na season. then it's always open.

women come by from the neighboring farms either to cut some grass for their goats, or if they know my grandma, to have a lovely (fingan qahwa) cup of coffee with the ladies. i've seen it all my life so i'm kinda accustomed to it.

Rosso my friend, I'm sure you wouldn't be happy if someone broke into your property!!

Wait a minute... interior?

I can't believe we forgot to mention that she might be 'M'3ayyeb'. :boo:

Do this here .. you'll get out of the property with a bullet in your a$s .. even for a fruit .. you gave me an idea...put up a sign... beware DOGS. Or beware, hunting area... do not enter... you might be shot.

Can I walk into your house, triple alphabet ? you're welcome... just make sure you introduce yourself or my mom would give you a piece of her mind like hell... which is what she did with those who were picking fruits. You shoulda seen that :XD: lol

TripleTee, she is old & she might be demented (impaired cognitive function & memory)

She could also be someone with a psychotic illness, when they are chronic they are commonly seen wandering aimlesslyyou know you gave me all the better reason to worry we've those people around us :XD:

I really don't see why you're making this a big deal 3T...

Drama queen..lol perhaps you've gotten your answer Rosso my friend, I'm sure you wouldn't be happy if someone broke into your property!!
let me add to that... that I am busy on my laptop... it's meant to be the weekend... I just woke up and don't like to be bothered without warning IN ADDITION to it being someone I've never seen in my life who just walked in like that. In my world... that's trespassing and unwelcome. Unless something in the farm was burning or it is done in the right way which means KNOCK the door and don't CHECK from the window.

Nella: Climbed the wall?...(hatha'lla naqi9) :XD:...not sure how to translate that... but that woulda been hilarious :XD:

ok so next time you see her. arm yourself with a camera and a notepad.
we want to see her picture and we want a full scale interview done with her.
prepare also some qahwa and maybe a few sweets and a spare room and a bed. maybe run her a bath with some body shop bath bubbles and get a housemaid to massage her weary feet.
:hyper:

LOL! imagine a lady in her 60s climbing a wall, haha! now as much as i think that Omani ladies from the interior are often healthy strong women, but the climbing thing is a bit extreme xD

So what did she end up doing? Just walked around?

minerva: strike out the bath and bed thing... but I'll be honored to do that interview :p...and secretly take a pic.

Nella:... I was actually imagining my mom telling her off (unlikely).. and the old lady suddenly knowing kung fu.... again unlikely...:XD:

Dam3eti: she tried to look inside... I was sitting in front of my laptop...shocked...watching.... then when she saw no one...she left... :XD:

So maybe she wanted something, but when she saw that the house was empty she left? lol

Now I wonder why I was certain that what she wanted was nothing of importance. would she not have knocked the door?,... she didn't even do that... at least knock the window... but no...she just looked in and left. lol.

oh well... i just wanted to know the NORMAL Omani customs from anyone here so at least I'd know next time

maybe she was a ghost............(cue paranormal soundtrack)....

Refer to this (http://www.englishsabla.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54618) thread for what the lady might have been doing..

Good one Rossonero maybe that woman came from Muscat following 3t.

We even enter houses that are still being built. Just to look around. My sister and I sometimes used a neighbour's house as a shortcut, until they moved in, ugh.

mmm yeah! i guess it is normal! :cute:

unless ur farm is closed with gates and the woman tried to push her hands inside and unlock the gate with effort then yeaah that's not normal! :s


we have a mini garden at home and we tend to put the gate open sometimes and it happens that some ppl pass and have a seat inside to rest for a while and then leave, some take samples of the flowers or trees then leave in peace :)

TripleTee, sometimes angel can take the shape of human....

^ Awww, now if that lady was my grandmother she would've given you Polo for saying that about her. :cute:

Tropikalboy, is it possible for the angel to be in the form of a woman?

We know that angels can appear in the form of a man.

Lol, isn't it possible ? Angels can take the shape of woman also isn' it ? :D